In just half a month, Fang Yuan confiscated the family wealth of Tian Hongyu and five or six other officials, drove away Zhang Xingcheng, a thousand households of Jinyi Wei, and killed Li Da of a hundred households, which was deeply valued by Emperor Chongzhen, and his name had already spread throughout the entire Ming officialdom.

Qintian Supervisor Zheng Li Hong is a five-grade official, but he has also heard of Fang Yuan's name, and when he saw this celebrity in front of Chongzhen, he suddenly came to the door, and thought that the case of Cha Tian Hongyu had been found on his head, and he was also frightened, and his vest was in a cold sweat.

When he heard that Fang Yuan's purpose of this trip was to find Tang Ruowang, the deputy supervisor of Qintian, Li Hongcai secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately asked people to go and tell Tang Ruowang.

John Tang is indeed a foreign monk who can recite scriptures, and his work style is rigorous, especially when observing the celestial phenomena and recording the calendar, anyone who comes to the door will be turned away.

Fang Yuan and Jing Jie had been waiting outside the gate of Qin Tianjian for an hour, but they still didn't see Tang Ruowang come out to meet.

Li Hong kept smiling at Fang Yuan and said, "Fang Baihu, these Francois are barbarians who don't know etiquette, which makes Fang Baihu smile, why don't I forcibly bring him in?" ”

Fang Yuan disagreed, and Tang Ruowang gave up reception for work, indicating that this person was a practical talent, not a bureaucrat. What Fang Yuan needs is this kind of research-oriented and hard-working talents, the so-called bureaucrats are grasping a lot of things, and there are very few people who can bury their heads in business.

Fang Yuan smiled noncommittally, "No need, anyway, I'm not in a hurry, Supervisor Li is in a hurry?" ”

Li Hong hurriedly smiled and said, "No hurry, no hurry! ”

Fang Yuan sipped the tea one by one, sighed softly from time to time, closed his eyes from time to time, and waited for another hour, under the repeated urging of the subordinate officials of Qin Tianjian, Tang Ruowang relented and asked Fang Yuan to go to the Astronomical Tower to meet him.

"The shelf is huge, I'll meet him alone!"

Fang Yuan ordered Jing Jie to wait outside, and followed the subordinate officer of Qintian Prison to the Astronomical Tower alone.

Fang Yuan pushed open the wooden door and entered, only to see a red-bearded foreigner about 4 or 50 years old fiddling with an astronomical telescope set up on the open platform.

This man was the famous missionary John Tong.

Tang Ruowang didn't even glance at Fang Yuan, he adjusted the position of the telescope by himself, and suddenly asked, "Lord Fang, do you believe in Christ Jesus?" ”

He has been in Daming for more than ten years and speaks Chinese very fluently.

Fang Yuan sat at his Western-style wooden table and said leisurely, "Master Tang, I am an atheist, Christianity, Halalism, Buddhism, Taoism, all of which do not believe in it. ”

John Tang was stunned, still burying his head in adjusting the lens of the astronomical telescope, "In our hometown, atheists are messengers of Satan, more terrible than infidels. ”

As soon as he came, he gave Fang Yuan a dismissal, obviously unwilling to get close to Fang Yuan, a Ming bureaucrat who did not believe in Christ Jesus.

Fang Yuan was angry, but getting angry in front of this foreigner could only lose his identity, and he had to completely convince him in order to make him change his face.

"Thank you, Lord Tang, for linking me to such a bullish villain boss as Satan, but ......"

Fang Yuan forcibly endured his anger and began to sell his knowledge before the time travel, and retorted to him, "Christ Jesus, and the bishop of the Holy See said that the sun revolves around the earth, and Lord Tang spreads the heliocentric theory, it seems that Lord Tang is not so pious in believing in Christ Jesus. ”

Fang Yuan had done his homework before coming.

In the West, geocentric theory has always been the mainstream theory, regarding heliocentrism as a heresy, 100 years ago Bruno was burned alive because of this controversy, until 30 years ago, Galileo looked at the celestial bodies through an astronomical telescope, re-proposed heliocentrism, heliocentric theory gradually accepted by Western academic circles.

It's only been 30 years, there is no mature heliocentric theory in Daming, and Fang Yuan in front of him actually blurted out this latest Western astronomical theory, which made Tang Ruowang was surprised, and then he finally looked squarely at Fang Yuan, a brocade guard, and asked in amazement, "Does Lord Fang believe in heliocentric theory or geocentric theory?" ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "I don't think it's right to say heliocentric or geocentric. ”

Tang Ruowang glanced sideways at him and asked in surprise, "Please teach Master Fang." ”

Fang Yuan held up a telescope, played with it casually, and said leisurely, "The geocentric theory is to think that the earth is the center of the universe, which is naturally very wrong; But the heliocentric theory that the sun is the center of the universe is just the surface of knowledge, and it does not seek to understand! ”

Fang Yuan was able to tell the joints of the heliocentric theory and the geocentric theory in one mouth, which made Tang Ruowang very moved, put down the astronomical telescope, and walked straight to Fang Yuan, "Can Lord Fang advise, why don't you ask for any explanation?" ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "The sun is only the center of the solar system, there is not only one earth revolving around the sun, but the eight planets and one dwarf planet in the solar system all revolve around the sun. ”

Tang Ruowang looked at him in a daze, his previous arrogance was gone, and he humbly asked for advice, "What are the eight planets, and what are the dwarf planets?" ”

Being able to convince John Tang, a foreigner from the West, the birthplace of modern astronomy, Fang Yuan felt a sense of accomplishment and showed off the astronomical knowledge he had learned, "The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The last dwarf planet farthest from the Sun and with the least mass is Pluto. ”

Tang Ruowang trembled violently, hurriedly sat down at the table, picked up the pen and began to record the names of the eight planets and the dwarf planets that Fang Yuan said. ”

It took him a long time before he came to his senses from the shock, and then asked, "Master Fang thinks that the sun is not the center of the universe, so what is the center of the universe?" ”

Fang Yuan was willing to continue to teach him the most basic geography lesson, "The solar system is only one of the galaxies with galactic coefficients, and the Milky Way is just a drop in the ocean of the universe, the universe is boundless, how can it be said that it is the center?" ”

Fang Yuan casually said the most basic astronomical theory in later generations, and Tang Ruowang recorded every word Fang Yuan said one by one like a primary school student taking notes, and Fang Yuan opened another world for him to study the universe and astronomy today, which made him completely impressed.

Tang Ruowang respectfully bowed his hand to Fang Yuan and said, "I have been in the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years, and I have never seen a well-educated person like Lord Fang, no, even my homeland has never seen it, no, there is no person in this world who can surpass Lord Fang's knowledge, be taught, be taught!" ”

Fang Yuan has the upper hand today, and there is no need to use the wind, so he is busy moving out of the public opinion propaganda before the crossing, "Chinese and Western cultures, each with its own strengths, we should learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses in science and technology, seek common ground while reserving differences in the cultural system, and establish a community with a shared future for mankind!" ”

Seeing that he was still so humble, Tang Ruowang sighed repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Lord Fang is really insightful, I don't know what Lord Fang is doing when he comes to the door today?" ”

Only then did he ask about the true purpose of Fang Yuan's trip, Fang Yuan coughed, cleared his throat and said, "I'm very interested in Western firecrackers, I want to buy a few to study and study, and I also asked Master Tang to be a middleman and sell some Western firecrackers to me." ”

Tang Ruowang was already very familiar with the Francoji merchant in the capital, and hurriedly said, "This is just a gesture, what kind of fire gun does Lord Fang want?" Harquebus? ”

Fang Yuan shook his head and said in a deep voice, "I can already make arquebuses in large quantities, what I want is the Thunderbolt Torch of the Lu Nation and the kind with a bayonet fixed in front of the barrel." ”

The Thunderbolt with bayonet is the most advanced flintlock musket in the West in this era, and there is a generation gap compared to the arquebus, and there are not many Franc people who come to China to do business with him, so John Tang was stunned and asked, "How many of these Thunderbolt Guns does Lord Fang need?" Three or five can still be traded. ”

Fang Yuan laughed and said, "Lord Tang, are the three or five sticks used to fight birds?" I want six hundred. ”

Six hundred, which is more than the amount of flintlock pistols in a medium-sized country in Europe, Tang Ruowang was taken aback at this time, and hurriedly asked, "What did Lord Fang do with buying so many thunderbolts?" ”

Of course, Fang Yuan would not tell him the truth, he smiled and said, "Lord Tang knows, my Ming Dynasty has just been defeated outside the pass, and the Manchu Tartars are about to enter the pass while they are victorious, and I, as the emperor's close guard, of course, I want to equip the most advanced firecrackers to protect our emperor." ”

Tang Ruowang was silent for a moment, agreed with his statement, and looked embarrassed, "Lord Fang is loyal to the country, but it is still not easy to find six hundred thunderbolts in this hurry. ”

Fang Yuan hurriedly lured him to take advantage of it, and promised, "This price is not a problem, you can also buy it in batches, and the benefits of Lord Tang are also indispensable." ”

John Tang shook his hand again and again and said, "Okay! I'll go to the church and ask the Francophone Chamber of Commerce if I can sell the thunderbolts of the Dongying and Siamese royal families to Lord Fang first. As for the benefits, as long as Lord Fang is willing to teach the astronomy in his womb, I am grateful. ”

"Deal!"

Fang Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this, relying on those worthless astronomy theories before the crossing could be exchanged for the full support of John Tang, it was a very cost-effective deal, "If Lord Tang is interested, we can become confidant brothers, our brothers of the Ming Dynasty have nothing to talk about, drink wine, talk about astronomy, it is very comfortable." ”

John Tang was already a China expert, and knew that China's sworn brothers were a shortcut to bring the two sides closer, so he hurriedly comprehended and said, "Okay, good, then we are confidant brothers." ”

Fang Yuan was overjoyed to be able to make friends with such a metallurgical and firearms master, and Tang Ruowang was obsessed with the astronomical knowledge that Fang Yuan had learned, and the two hit it off, and the more they talked, the more they fell in love.

Fang Yuan said in a low voice, "The matter of purchasing the fire gun is a matter of imperial court secrets, and I also ask Lord Tang to keep it secret." ”

As long as Tang Ruowang can keep his mouth shut, no one will know about Fang Yuan's secret purchase of the Thunderbolt Fire Hammer, which is also one of the important reasons why Fang Yuan and Tang Ruowang have a friendship and become brothers.

John Tang said repeatedly, "Yes, yes, I must be tight-lipped." ”

Fang Yuan was in a happy mood, and whistled out of the Qin Tianjian with a relaxed whistle, and today he made friends with the best metallurgical and firearms masters in the Ming Dynasty today, which will have immeasurable benefits for the improvement of mining technology and firearms technology in the Ming Dynasty in the future.